How PSEi member stocks performed — November 6, 2018
Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Tuesday, November 6, 2018.
Philippine Stock Exchange’s most active stocks by value turnover — November 6, 2018
Continuing struggle to craft democracy through elections
We have a deeply rooted, overwhelming governance problem. What surveys show as the citizen’s waxing and waning support for the national leadership has a continuously dark undertone — the people have a generalized distrust of government. This is unsurprising as most of those in power are not merely ineffective, they are dysfunctional. They are not merely incompetent as rule enforcers, they are distorting the rules.
The Philippines continues to be plagued by the irresponsible and corrupt exercise of political power. The net effect: the business sector’s lukewarm attitude toward sustained investment, a civil society undermined and lacking a clear development agenda, and public institutions with poor track record in service delivery.
It doesn’t take one a long time to find an example of corruption in the Philippines. Whether they involve a complicated web of people and organizations or individuals benefitting from certain projects, the list of corruption cases is endless.
These issues extend into or are highlighted by elections. As if the high cost of running for a position wasn’t enough as a barrier, candidates have to accept the possibility that they, their family, and their supporters could be victims of political violence. Therefore, to secure their safety and investments, candidates rely on vote-buying and other forms of patronage politics, which they must maintain throughout their tenure for continued success; and so, the cycle continues.
All corrupt governance practices are ultimately rooted in our electoral system. Corruption in preparation for and during elections including vote-buying, misuse of public funds, electoral violence, to name a few, all reproduce other forms of malpractices in the socio-political sphere. Electoral corruption is the moldering mother of all other forms of corruption in government.
However, the worst development of all is the apathy of people toward corruption. The normalcy of corruption cases allows politicians associated with corruption to run again, with relative high chances of winning.
While this is enough to send anyone into despair about the future of this country, one of the great attributes of democracy is its ability to correct itself. Despite the lack of a solid critical alternative during elections, we may look at May 2019 as another point in the continuing struggle to craft democracy in this country.
Imagine how the seeds of corruption are sown during elections. To make the social soil infertile to such malignant growth, we must advocate program-based and policy-intensive political discourse to test the leadership potential of the candidates. When corruption seems to seep from every branch of the government, elections act as another check-and-balance against officials to hold them accountable for their performance. Through their ballot, citizens state their support for certain practices, beliefs, and stances.
If one wants a more fair, democratic, and egalitarian government, it begins with an informed and well-thought-out vote. For any concerned citizen, voting is not a singular action done every three years. Instead, it is an active reflection of the problems and needs of the country in comparison to the abilities, programs, and principles of hopeful candidates. In the era of the internet, information is merely a click away and ignorance is no longer an excuse. The power of the ballot is strong which is why it is often the target of manipulation by those who wish to stay in power.
Democracy Watch believes in the ability of the government to change and the people’s power to ensure that such change is for the better. We envision a mature and reformed Philippine Republic that delivers effective and responsive governance with an inclusive economic prosperity and a truly democratic political system. This dream begins with us citizens.
Earlier this month, we launched our Youth Alliance with student governments and leaders of universities and colleges in Metro Manila to promote voter education and discussion among young leaders. Unable to imagine a Philippines without democracy, it is easy to take it for granted. Yet the youth are the ones with the most to gain or lose with a long life ahead of them. In this light, we want to engage them by learning about and voicing out their concerns through these forums. We believe that their active participation leads to better decisions and outcomes, from which a thorough consultation of their ideas and points of view will create more effective public policies and positive outcomes for years to come.
The youth are not the only ones with the responsibility to be active citizens. A real democracy needs pro-active citizens. Citizens who take the elections seriously and the task of selecting leaders with the mind of one who is deeply reflecting on a better future for society.
Let us seize this opportunity to hold our officials accountable and elect the right leaders for the future of this country. Let us make these elections count.
Claudette Guevara is Deputy Executive Director for Programs of Stratbase ADR Institute and Secretary-General of Democracy Watch Philippines.
Machismo games
President Rodrigo Duterte’s latest rants against saints is, to my mind, just another instance of his continuing campaign to express his machismo; still another effort to demonstrate his manliness in terms of iconoclasm against all things held sacred, even by religious tradition.
The determined campaign to expel veteran missionary Patricia Fox, who served our disadvantaged communities for almost 30 years, is to my mind, still another manifestation of his need to demonstrate his macho power. Why he has to resort to such radical expressions of his manliness strikes me as an obvious form of insecurity. What is it about assertive women that he fears, so that he has to oust them from high office, or have them indefinitely detained, or ousted from the country?
He has already attained the highest, most powerful position in the land. Why the need to prove this time and time again, even to the point of wielding the awesome powers at his command? He actually comes out a bully, since the contest is not even.
Rodrigo Duterte strikes me as an epitome of a hopefully dying breed of men who need to put down women in order to assure themselves that they are superior. Those who have attained maturity may have come to terms with the idea that the genders are equal; and are likely to have healthier relationships. An old friend has even gone further. He says to me that “it is really a woman’s world; but thank God, I will be dead by then.” Haha.
A clinical psychologist friend says we really need to run a “men’s liberation” campaign, in order to help women attain their own liberation. She thinks that men are burdened by the high expectations on them. Women seem to be less under pressure to perform; and are easily recognized when they attain some measure of success. It is said that Filipino women mature at the age of 25, and the men mature at the age of 30. Perhaps it is because in our families, girls are brought up differently from the boys. Girls are given responsibilities at home (cooking, cleaning, running errands); while the boys are allowed a lot of freedom to play and hang out with their gangs.
I find that my own grandson, who married at the age of 30, seems to have a healthy relationship with his wife who is actually the same age. They prepared well for their marital commitment and family life. They dated for seven years, and attended a “discovery weekend” where volunteer facilitators helped them to find out if they basically held the same values and attitudes about crucial matters like money, children, education, in-laws, and the usual things that cause marital discord. It was only when they realized that they differed only on minor matters (which they were able to resolve during their workshops) that they decided to get engaged. They now have a 7-month-old son, and are enjoying him and work as a team in rearing and bringing him up.
I am really impressed with their clear and committed egalitarianism. They both work to earn a living; and share in their family expenses; and in running their home and caring for and rearing their son. Their peer groups of young urban marrieds also seem to hold the same attitudes and values about gender roles and responsibilities. It makes me optimistic about the coming generation of parents and leaders in our communities.
The schools and communities can play a key role in orienting future and current parents on bringing up their children and orienting them on equitable roles and responsibilities for boys and girls.
Obviously, there is a lot of work to do to turn the egalitarian trend into an epidemic. The fact that Duterte, with his iconoclastic ranting and machismo games, is so popular indicates that we are a long way from an egalitarian and enlightened society. The fact that the barbaric ranting and macho posturing of our national leader is acceptable and even, alas, popular, is a sad reality that indicates that majority of our menfolk, and their parents and forthcoming parents need a lot of reeducation.
The schools can do a lot to hasten the transformation. Egalitarian gender consciousness along with civics education can bring us closer to the mature and civilized nation that we have the potential to become. Certainly the business community can help mobilize gender re-education in the workplace. A more mature citizenry will likely choose more mature and enlightened leaders. We can perhaps look forward to less childishness in our legislative proceedings and in government executives’ public behavior.
Teresa S. Abesamis is a former professor at the Asian Institute of Management and an independent development management consultant.
tsabesamis0114@yahoo.com